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april 1st is the holiday april fools also known as all fools day. its exact origin is not known, because there are so many stories as to why it started. the most plausible tale is that new years day in france used to be april 1st, but the king changed it to january 1st. not everyone accepted this change for several years and those who didnt were scoffed as fools, thus the term april fools.
today people from many parts of the world are recognizing and celebrating april 1st in their own unique way. here at international school is a fruitful student body from all over the world. i decided to ask a few of our fellow classmates from is to pass on what they did for april fools and also pass on this tradition to this who dont know about this good hearted holiday. maybe through jinan university, april fools one day will really be global.
unlike most of the other nonfoolish holidays, the history of april fools day, sometimes called all fools day, is not totally clear. there really wasnt a first april fools day that can be pinpointed on the calendar. some believe it sort of evolved simultaneously in several cultures at the same time, from celebrations involving the first day of spring.
the closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in france. prior to that year, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on march 25. the celebration culminated on april 1. with the reform of the calendar under charles ix, the gregorian calendar was introduced, and new years day was moved to january 1.
however, communications being what they were in the days when news traveled by foot, many people did not receive the news for several years. others, the more obstinate crowd, refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the new year on april 1. these backward folk were labeled as fools by the general populace. they were subject to some ridicule, and were often sent on fools errands or were made the butt of other practical jokes.
this harassment evolved, over time, into a tradition of prank-playing on the first day of april. the tradition eventually spread to england and scotland in the eighteenth century. it was later introduced to the american colonies of both the english and french. april fools day thus developed into an international fun fest, so to speak, with different nationalities specializing in their own brand of humor at the expense of their friends and families.
in scotland, for example, april fools day is actually celebrated for two days. the second day is devoted to pranks involving the posterior region of the body. it is called taily day. the origin of the kick me sign can be traced to this observance.
mexicos counterpart of april fools day is actually observed on december 28. originally, the day was a sad remembrance of the slaughter of the innocent children by king herod. it eventually evolved into a lighter commemoration involving pranks and trickery.
pranks performed on april fools day range from the simple, (such as saying, your shoes untied!), to the elaborate. setting a roommates alarm clock back an hour is a common gag. whatever the prank, the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim, april fool!
practical jokes are a common practice on april fools day. sometimes, elaborate practical jokes are played on friends or relatives that last the entire day. the news media even gets involved. for instance, a british short film once shown on april fools day was a fairly detailed documentary about spaghetti farmers and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees.
april fools day is a for-fun-only observance. nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their significant other out to eat in a fancy restaurant. nobody gets off work or school. its simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant, for he may be the next april fool!
nowadays, there appears a phenomenon that the western customs are spreading into the east countries step by step, thus making many inhabitants who live in big cities enjoy themselves on these western festivals such as april fools day, etc. such phenomenon shows us that the world people are getting close gradually and the world is becoming smaller and smaller as well. therefore, in my opinion, its a normal phenomenon s well as a necessary trend.
first of all, it shows that we chinese have become much opener rather than clinging to some very old customs, which are opposite our living. looking back on the history, we can find the answer to why our china was very poor and weak in the 1800s. yes, the answer is that we closed ourselves not to let other countries know about us, and this led us to a very hard road on which we suffered many wars that many european countries launched. so i think it is more than necessary to accept other customs instead of closing ourselves. of course, festivals are just the beginning.
whats more, the open and reform policy results in this. so i want to say it is a great achievement for the policy. since we took the policy into practice, our country is developing with a rapid speed. no doubt it is an essential trend.
last but not the least, we may get closer and closer not only to our home friends but also to many foreigners. we can never feel embarrassed for not knowing the others customs and manners. and more misunderstandings can be avoided as well.
to sum up, the trend has its great advantage to a certain extent. however, if we admire the western customs too much, it will be a disadvantage because china is our own country, all of us should enjoy a patriotic heart. wish in the near future, we can see the situation that westerners are enjoying themselves on the spring festival.